Between the economy, and our society’s obsession with praise worship, this article really doesn’t surprise me. It does, however, make me very sad. Not just for a suffering business, (and I really do hope the Wicks Organ Company sees that pendulum swing in the future, and is able to go back to not just repairing, but also manufacturing, pipe organs), but for a loss of something beautiful and historic.

There was nothing my father liked better than a great pipe organ. Emphasis on great, because he was something of an organ snob. His idea of a good evening was listening to records, and later CDs, of organ concerts. Now, I can’t say I ever totally understood that, and while I do appreciate a good organ, I don’t feel as strongly about it as he did. Still, to me, an integral part of worship is the congregation’s singing being accompanied by an organ.

I really feel badly for people who don’t appreciate, don’t even want, that kind of music in their churches. I’m not saying you must have an organ to be saved or anything, but it’s historic, an art form, (and I do fear that many modern churches have lost sight of what art is and how beneficial it is to worship), and more importantly, an element of worship, that shouldn’t be so easily discarded.